The Centre was established to provide a site in London for the display of drawings free from the commercial concerns that pervade the London art scene and to provide a context for drawing that could also exist beyond the demands of the fine arts. Its emphasis is on recent rather than the more commercially regulated 'contemporary'. As a centre it aims to operate as a node of activity between the artist's studio, art college, school, therapeutic or architectural practice and the public, to provide experience in exhibition and curatorship, to add focus to a college programme and to share the experience of drawing.